In almost all electronic assemblies, power for the various system components must be supplied throughout the system from a central power source. This is often accomplished by power supply bus bars which provide power to throughout the system, allowing individual components and sub-assemblies such as circuit boards, disk drives, etc., to individually connect to the bus bars to receive power. In many systems, power of different voltages are required by the different sub-assemblies. Thus, often more than two bus bars are necessary to supply power within a system. These electronic systems can vary in size from a small box to a large cabinet which can fill a room.
The power supply within such electronic systems are often high voltage and amperage supplies, requiring proper separation of conductive paths, proper shielding, and also good connections throughout the system. These connections must be secure both electrically and mechanically to prevent failure during the life of the system.
Bus bars are often electrically connected to power supplies using threaded connectors with standard nuts to connect the bus bar to the threaded connector on the power supply. This provides a tight mechanical and electrical connection. Lock washers can be used to prevent the connection from loosening up over time. Such nuts are usually made of a conductive material such as steel.
This arrangement, however, can cause problems in that since the nuts are electrically conductive, they can cause electrical shorts within a system if the become loose and fall off the threaded connector. If someone is tightening up a nut which connects to a live power supply, there is a risk that the person may receive an electrical shock if the voltage or amperage is high enough. Also, shorts to other parts of the system can easily happen when these nuts or other connecting materials are being tightened. Another problem occurs when such conductive nuts fall off of threaded studs before they can tightened and become lost within a system. If a nut falls down and shorts out some other components near the power supply, catastrophic results can occur. Retrieving lost nuts from inside a cabinet system is often difficult if not impossible, as well as time consuming.
Accordingly, what is needed is a power interconnect system for connecting power supplies or other components within a system to power bus bar connectors, which cannot cause shorts when being tightened or loosened, and cannot separate or become lost within a system, and which can be engaged with a "hot" or functioning power supply without danger of electrical shock.